Julian Assange: Lawyers say US prosecution is state retaliation

Julian Assange's lawyers have accused the United States of “state retaliation” in its bid to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder.

Mr. Assange has been held in the British prison Belmarsh since 2019 and is wanted by American authorities for releasing classified military files in 2010 and 2011.

During a two-day High Court hearing that began on Tuesday, his lawyers argued that his extradition would be in breach of British law.

If the appeal is rejected, Assange could be extradited within weeks.

One of the Australian lawyers, Edward Fitzgerald KC, 52, claimed the US prosecution move was “politically motivated”.

Mr Fitzgerald told Justices Victoria Sharp and Johnson that when he disclosed the documents in question, “Mr Assange was exposing serious criminality”.

He said his client “is facing charges for his involvement.” [the] The normal journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing confidential information, that is, information that is true and clearly of important public interest. ”

Another of Mr Assange's lawyers, Mark Summers KC, said the US was seeking retaliation for Mr Assange's political views, one of many obstacles to extradition from the UK set out by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He said that it is.

“This is a classic example of state retaliation for expressing political views,” Summers told a court in central London.

The lawyers also argued that their clients “are at real risk of further extrajudicial action by the CIA.” [Central Intelligence Agency] or any other agency” – a legally nuanced way of saying that after a fair trial, he could be assassinated or suffer some other harm beyond criminal sanctions.

Their claim, whose evidence has yet to be tested, is that the CIA planned the murder while Assange was sheltering inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, from 2012 to 2019.

Summers told the judge that then-President Donald Trump asked for “detailed options” on how to kill Assange, who did not appear in court Tuesday because he was ill.

“Sketches have also been made,” he said, adding that while nothing has been produced so far, there is evidence of this “truly breathtaking plan.”

Mr Summers said the alleged plan “only fell apart when the British authorities were not too keen on the idea of ​​staging and gunfights on the streets of London”.

In a written submission, he and Fitzgerald said: “Evidence shows that the United States has used its own criminal justice system to maintain impunity for U.S. officials for torture/war crimes committed domestically. “We have shown that we are prepared to do whatever it takes,” he added. The infamous “war on terror” and the crackdown on actors and courts willing and prepared to hold accountable those crimes.

“Mr. Assange was one of those targets.”

Mr. Assange's massive legal battle began in 2010, when WikiLeaks exposed a vast number of secret military files relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It included footage of US military helicopters shooting civilians in Baghdad.

He took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 2019.

In the same year, the United States asked Britain to extradite him, saying the leaks had put lives at risk.

Two years later, a British judge ruled that the United States had a legitimate criminal case against Assange, but that Assange could not be extradited because he was likely to attempt self-harm. I put it down.

The United States later overturned the ruling after giving Britain new guarantees about Assange's treatment upon extradition, including the possibility of him spending a prison sentence in his native Australia.

In what appears to be largely a last-ditch hearing this week, Mr. Assange's lawyers are seeking permission to challenge an extradition order signed by then-British Home Secretary Priti Patel in 2022.

If Mr Assange is unable to convince a judge that there is something wrong with the order, he must be extradited within 28 days, but he will have to persuade the European Court of Human Rights to suspend his flights through a so-called “Rule 39” order. Mr. Assange must be extradited within 28 days unless he is able to do so.

Nick Vamos, a former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, said federal marshals could arrive in London within days if the High Court dismisses the case.

“There is a very high threshold, [the European Court of Human Rights to intervene]That is, there is an 'imminent risk of irreparable harm' to his human rights, which is, of course, one of the arguments that the London High Court would have rejected,” he said.

Stella Assange said in a BBC interview on Monday that her husband would not survive in a US prison and said the incident was politically motivated.

“This case will decide whether he lives or dies,” she said.

Mr. Assange's supporters gathered outside the High Court on Tuesday, waving placards that read “Free Julian Assange.”

Mrs Assange thanked them for their support on stage outside the court, saying: “We have two big days ahead of us. We don't know what will happen, but you are all here because the world is watching.” Ta.

In an interview with the BBC, she echoed the words of Mr Assange's lawyers, describing her husband as a “victim” of US “retaliation”.